Friday, January 23, 2015

Demolition Derby

Photo by MirrorSlap Photography
At our small county fair, one of the most popular events is the Demolition Derby. I don't care for it: too much noise and destruction for me. But when it comes to the farmhouse, demolition is a very good thing!

The contractor's crew has been hard at work all week, and things are looking much different already. Remember Grandfather's room?


The plaster and wainscoting came down,


and now it looks like this:




And remember that nice little closet?


Well...


it turned out to be a prime example of the wood shaving method of insulation!


We've all been wondering about the poor soul whose job it was to make all those shavings. Evidently the entire house was insulated this way when it was built in 1885. At the time, it was probably as good as anything available. No doubt the shavings have settled a lot over the last hundred years or so, but it must have been quite a job to pack them in there.


They're not in there anymore.


We met with the electrician this morning. He's not the same one who started the re-wiring process four years ago, so we went over what had been done and what still needs to be completed while the walls are open and easily accessible for pulling wires. He'll get busy next week.

In the meantime, there's lots of cleanup to do.


So, next week it's wiring and insulation. Stay tuned!


14 comments:

  1. Oh, this is so exciting to see things under way. I guess wood shavings were better than no insulation at all, as is the case here in old houses.
    Have a good week,

    Diana

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    1. Quite a mess, isn't it? But, you have to "deconstruct" before you can construct, so at lease we're started. Happy weekend to you!

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  2. I guess I'd say 'Been there; done that!'. Hope it all goes well for you. It will be worth it in the long run!

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    1. Thanks for stopping by This Sweet Life, and thanks for the good wishes. It's a monumental project, but, you never get finished if you never start. It's definitely a process. Happy weekend!

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  3. Oh wow, it's so interesting to see what's going on. Gosh those wood shavings!

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  4. wow, looks like alot of work, bet your excited about getting it done

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  5. I tried to change the setting so that I'm not a no-reply blogger, but it doesn't seem to have worked!

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  6. Wow, what a task, my friend! You are certainly making great progres. I found the wood shavings to be quite fascinating :)

    Enjoy the remainder of your week - don't work too hard. Hugs!

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  7. We renovated an old Victorian home a number of years ago. This reminds me of it. However we found no shavings in our walls, there was NO insulation at all. We wondered why it was so cold.

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  8. Oh wow, makes me wonder what's in my walls! My house dates to 1870. How exciting for you to have all this done!

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  9. Wow! What an overwhelming job. Good for you. Can't wait to see the finished product.
    ~Liz

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  10. This looks like hard work to me Nancy. I admire your courage !
    Thank you so much for your visit and kind words on my blog !

    Have good Easter days,
    Wilma. Shabby Royale.

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  11. Nancy, that is quite a job. Can you imagine filling up the walls with wood shavings. Sounds like quite an intelligent undertaking though for the times. We didn't have any insulation in our walls at all. Don't know how those people kept warm back then. Thank you for your visit. I really appreciate it and look forward to seeing your progress..Happy Tuesday..Judy

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  12. Hi Nancy - it looks like you have quite an undertaking going on around you! I'm sure it will all turn out beautiful! How ingenious about the wood shavings...to think they have been in there all those years! Thank you for your sweet visit - I am following - your scenery outside looks beautiful there. xo Karen

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